Ghosts
by Salomedancing
Summary: Evelyn returns a widow to Egypt after World War II. And the past reaches out to greet her. Warning for character death in the prologue.
1. Prologue Rick

**AN: As I disliked the third movie and only saw it once, years ago, I have completely disregarded it for the purpose of the fic.**

London, 1940

Evelyn ran. Her heels clicked against the floors, faster and faster. Around her there were the sound of other feet, walking quickly in all directions. There were screams and moans and soothing voices, but she barely heard them. She didn't notice the stench of blood and vomit and sharp disinfectants either, but she could feel the strength of many people's pain and anguish like a blow to her senses. Her own fears, which she had kept in check on her way to the hospital, now rose inside her, making her feel almost sick with worry.

It was a mistake, of course. It had to be a mistake. It would turn out not to be Rick in the end. She would find another poor soul in the hospital bed, but not Rick. Surely her husband wasn't the only man in London who would rush into an unstable house to save a child? And Rick was always lucky, a building wouldn't dare to collapse on top of him. Enchanted ruins hadn't been able to crush him, so how could something as mundane as modern bricks and mortar kill him?

But it was true. An exhausted doctor took a few minutes to tell Evy how Rick's body had shielded the child from serious injuries when the walls fell down on them. The cost for him was fatal, internal damages so bad it was only a matter of hours before he succumbed. Evy looked at her unconscious husband in the hospital bed. The face which never quite lost its tan even in winter, now had a grey pallor, and his breaths were shallow.

"Do you think he will wake up, before- before…"

The doctor looked sympathetic, "Possibly. It won't do any harm if you sit here and talk to him, but don't expect him to answer. I hope you can find comfort in knowing he saved someone else. Your husband is a hero."

"I know", Evy said. "He always was."

She sat down beside Rick and took his hand. With a low voice she told him what she had done during the day. The ordinary, humdrum things she would never have bothered with telling him had it been any other day. Then she talked about Alex, and how glad she was they had sent him away from London, even if she missed him dreadfully. And then she talked about the first time they had met, how annoyed she had been with him on that hot smelly prison yard. She told him how annoyed she would be with him now, for leaving her like this. Evy talked and talked until her voice broke and then she just sat there, stroking his hand, as if that alone could call him back to her.

Time ticked away and Rick's breathing became more laboured and his pallor deepened. Evy thought she would have to accept she would never hear his voice again when Rick's eyes opened. When he saw her he smiled his familiar cheerful grin.

"You don't have to lie about me getting on my feet soon," he told her. "This is it, I can feel it. Sorry about that."

Though his tone voice as carefree as ever, Evy could see it was painful for him to speak.

"Take good care of yourself and Alex now. Tell Jonathan I will haunt him if he doesn't shape up and do his job as a big brother. And don't read mystical books aloud unless you are _sure_ nothing will happen."

Evy wanted to promise him she wouldn't, but when she tried to speak, the tears came instead. Rick looked worried and clutched her hand a little tighter.

"You'll be fine, Evy. You'll see. And don't you dare go around mourning me for the rest of your life. One day some other chap will turn up, and when he does- don't turn him around on my account."

He closed his eyes and fell silent, and Evy though he had slipped back into unconsciousness again. But then he smiled faintly.

"Well, aren't you going to kiss me one last time?"

His lips were as firm and warm as they had been in the morning when he had kissed her good morning. Evy closed her eyes and kissed him softly so she wouldn't cause him unnecessary pain. He said nothing more, his breathing changed again and then there was nothing. But Evy sat there holding his hand, long after the last warmth had leaked away from it. Now the time for adventures was over, only bleak reality was left.


	2. Imhotep

_Cairo, 1947_

Evelyn O'Connell returned to Egypt after the war. She came alone, trading one war-torn country for another, not sure what she was looking for. Perhaps she was lucky who had only lost a husband, when so many had lost everything, but she didn't feel it. She had mourned Rick deeply, but as long as the war continued, she had had no time to dwell on her loss. When peace came and life slowed down, she realised how lonely she was. It was easy to leave the house she and Rick had lived in. He was not there, and the rooms felt too empty. Without him, it no longer felt like a home.

So Evy came back to the country of her mother, a slender woman in her early forties. A beautiful woman though she made little effort to appear so. She favoured practical clothes, cut for longevity over fashion fads. When most women had cut their hair, she had kept hers long, a heavy coil at the nape of her neck. Her only deference towards fashion was a slick of red lipstick which she had always licked off by lunch time. With her she brought her books and most of the artefacts she and Rick had collected. Those she donated to the museum where everything had once started. They thanked her by giving her a small office and free access to the library, where she made use of her considerable knowledge of dead languages.

In returning to Egypt, Evy had hoped to find peace and a new beginning, but she had not expected to find Rick again. Cairo was rife with memories of him. They invariably brought back how much she missed him, but she had known it would happen. To her surprise she also felt like he was close to her again, present in a way she had never felt before. It ought to sadden her, but instead it made her feel better than she had in many years. He didn't feel like he was lost to her anymore. It felt like coming home. Evy settled down and found new routines, tentatively building new friendships, but not renewing any old ones.

But there were other memories, those she didn't want to dwell on. Evy tried to ignore them, but the more she tried to push them away, the more she thought of them. Once she had been pursued by a man she had brought back to life, a man neither dead nor living. Now she came to realise, she was being hounded by the memories of him. Evy had not expected it, she had been to Egypt many times since Imhotep was defeated. Now the memories of him grow stronger, and more intense for every day which passed.

Only memories, even increasingly vivid ones, would not alone have alarmed her. They were, after all, only recollections of times past. But gradually she realised they did not come alone. At first she thought little about it. Later when she tried to pinpoint when it had all started, she could only say it must have been soon after her arrival. At first it was only fleeting moments. An odd sound, or a feeling of movement behind her when she walked thought the museum after closing time. A faint trace of a familiar scent, wafting against her on a narrow street. It was disturbing, but mostly because she couldn't understand why it bothered her so much.

Then the movements turned into a shape in the corner of an eye. The random sounds turned into stealthy footsteps. There were never anything to see and hear when she stopped and looked around, but it happened more and more often. Then the dreams came. Evy dreamt of ancient stone corridors, the walls covered with hieroglyphs. She knew them, it was the buried passages and chambers of Hamunaptra. And though she walked there alone, someone was following her. She dreamt the same dream, every night, each night bringing the one following her closer. In the dreams, Evy walked faster and faster, trying to find her way out, before she woke up with a gasp in her own bed, carrying with her a growing panic, which only grew worse for every passing night.

One night she thought she heard Rick calling for her. Evy ran, following the sound of the voice through the long and dwindling corridors. She was sure she would see him every time she turned a corner. But his voice was always a little further away.

"Where are you?" Evy cried. "Wait for me!"

She ran into a chamber, following his voice, but it was empty. There was no other way out, only an ornately carved false door on the opposite wall.

"Rick!" Evy called and she could hear him answering on the other side of the door which could never be opened. She ran up to it and placed her cheek against it. Dreaming as she was, she knew he was standing on the other side, doing the same.

"I miss you," she told him. "And I'm afraid. There is someone coming."

"I know. I'm doing what I can to help, I promise. But you are strong and smart, Evy. You can fight him."

"I wish you could come back," she whispered and then woke up, crying.

The next morning came with a strong feeling something would happen. Evy went through the day in fearful expectation, but nothing happened and eventually she relaxed. There had been too many nights of disturbed sleep, it was no wonder she was overwrought. By early evening Evy felt almost back to normal. She was working late at the museum, wholly concentrated on an old scroll when her nostrils was suddenly filled with a scent. Perfume, a mixture of cinnamon, cedar and myrrh, strong and spicy. Evy looked up in alarm and saw the bulk of a man standing outside the doorway. Though in shadow she could, for a moment, see the outline of him, proud and arrogant and she thought she could see the glimmer of his eyes as he watched her. Then the scent disappeared and there was no one outside her room, no one at all. She knew it had been Imhotep, though it couldn't have been, he was long gone. She had helped make sure of that twice. But, a part of her mind whispered, he would never have come back at all, if it hadn't been for you.

The dream which came to her next was different. This time she wasn't in the old tunnels anymore, now Evy was standing among the ruins of the city. It was noon, the sun enormous and hot above her, rendering everything golden. In front of her, kneeling and with his head bent was Imhotep. She wanted to run, but then he raised his head and looked at her. His face was filled with anguish and she could see tear in his black eyes. He looked like he had the last time she had seen him, the moments before he had let go and fallen into the abyss. It had filled her heart with pity then, and she felt the same way now.

"Call for me", he said, but Evy shook her head.

"Go away", she told him, but instead he rose, and she could feel the scent of his perfume, just as she had in the museum.

He took a step closer to her. "Say my name."

"No."

"My Princess, why will you not say my name so I can come to you? Call me back to life and I will love only you. I will give you everything."

He stepped even closer, and Evy found she had no longer any desire to flee. He raised his hand to her face, so close she could feel the warmth from his skin, but he didn't touch her. Evy could feel her resolve melt away and her breath quickened.

"You have been alone for far too long. There is no one left, but me. I am waiting for you. I can make you happy again."

He bowed down to kiss her, and Evy turned her face up to him, her lips parting. His hands slid down her arms, holding her close. But before his lips touched hers, a smile flickered over them, a smile she knew. It was the same triumphant and cruel smile as when he had broke his promise to her not to harm her friends. It broke the spell and Evy tried to turn her head away. His fingers dug into her arms and made it impossible for her to twist away from him. He kissed her, and she gagged on the taste of spices which filled her mouth. She woke up with, gasping for air with the taste still in her mouth.

She tumbled out of bed, half expecting Imhotep to be in the room when she turned on the lights. Evy caught herself in the mirror. With her hair falling over her shoulders and her eyes wide opened she thought she looked like a madwoman in an old novel. Then she saw the marks on her arms, marks from a hand much larger than her own.

Feeling wide awake and rattled by both dream and aftermath, Evy wrapped herself in a robe and left the bedroom. Tea, she thought, would soothe her mind and scald away the loathsome taste from her mouth. While the tea brewed she took pot and cup to the library. It was her favourite room, the books lining the walls made her feel safer. She opened the large windows, the night air was warm, but still refreshing. Evy curled up on the sofa with a book she had read many times before. The well-known and loved words calmed her, but when she heard the sound of soft footsteps, fear shot through her again. But the ghost from her past who stepped into the room brought no dread with him, only a sudden and overwhelming relief.


	3. Ardeth

A man dressed in black, tall and broad shouldered stepped into the room. A man Evy knew well though it had been many years since she saw him last.

"Ardeth!"

Evy rose, but suppressed an impulse to hug him. Even after all these years she wasn't sure if he would take such a familiarity as an affront to his dignity. Instead she pressed her hands together and gave him a bow and he bowed solemnly back. Several questions tried to escape from her mouth at once and instead of trying to ask them all, she fell back to formality. She asked him to sit down and went to the kitchen to find another tea cup. In there she leaned against the kitchen sink and tried to coax her breathing to return to normal.

They had lost all contact with Ardeth when the war came. Evy had tried to send him a message after Rick's death, but she had never known if it had reached him. When she had first came back to Egypt she had half expected him to come to see her, but as months passed, there had been nothing. He must know she was there, she was sure the Medjai kept their eyes on the museum. Either he couldn't come, or he didn't want to see her. Both explanations hurt. Evy didn't want to believe he was dead, but the other explanation was almost as painful to think about, if not completely unexpected. He and Rick had been close friends or perhaps more like brothers. Whenever they had been in Egypt before, Ardeth had always showed up. And Evy had always stepped back when he came, even if she was as delighted to see him again as Rick was. It was not like they had tried to exclude her from their friendship, it was her own choice. It had been easy for Rick and Ardeth to love and admire each other; their relationship untainted by hasty and disastrous decisions. Evy's own feelings for Ardeth had always been tempered with knowing that if it hadn't been for her, his life would have been much easier. He had always treated her with polite friendliness, but she had felt a distance between them. How could there be anything else when there were so many dead because of her? But now he was back, at the moment when she needed a friend the most. Not for the first time either. He had always had a knack for knowing when he was needed.

Evy returned to the library, fussed a little about the tea for a few more seconds to compose herself. She took a sip of her own cooling tea and smiled at him.

"It's so good to see you again."

Ardeth smiled back as always an unexpectedly joyous smile from a man who habitually wore a serious face.

"It is good to see you too, Evelyn." His smile faded. "The news of Rick's death saddened me deeply. He was a great man."

Evy felt the familiar stab of pain Rick's name always brought.

"I'm glad you got my message. I didn't know it would reach you."

"It did. But I already knew." Ardeth placed a hand over his heart. "I felt it here."

Evy nodded, unsurprised. It felt only right and proper for Ardeth to know before he was told.

"I hope your son and brother are well."

"They are, both of them. Alex is at Oxford now. Driving his history tutor a bit frustrated, I believe. And Jonathan is currently rich. I know he is making money on the black market though he denies it. I guess he will be in prison the next time I hear from him."

"Knowing your brother I would say it is most likely."

While they talked Evy looked closer at him. Ardeth's hair was still long and thick, but there was silver in the dark mass and silver in his beard too. His handsome face had lines she had never seen before. The tattoos adorning his cheeks and forehead had faded a little. It was the face of a man who was still strong and vigorous, but no longer youthful. Not like when they had first met. Then they had all been so painfully young, hardly more than children. So young and none of them, apart from him, the slightest prepared for the ancient evil they had encountered. And she- she had been so arrogant, so sure she would be the discoverer of hidden treasures. Instead she had very nearly condemned them all.

"I hope your family made it through the war."

"I have no family. I never married"

"Oh", Evy said and then blurted out; "Why not?"

Then she blushed, the question was both rude and invasive. But how could he not have a wife? Evy remembered the first time she saw him when they had tumbled out from the maze of ancient corridor's, out into the heat of the desert. Ardeth had stood there waiting with his men, like someone out of a fairy tale. He had ibeen/i someone from a fairy tale with his legacy and knowledge. A beautiful and mysterious prince whom had taken her breath away, even if she had already fallen in love with Rick by then. There was a sense of sensuality about him, all the more powerful because he seemed unaware of the effect he had on those who met him. Evy glanced at him, taking in his dark eyes and the elegant lines of his face. There was a promise there, and in his strong hands too, which any woman with blood in her veins ought to respond to. That there was no one who loved him seemed like a terrible waste.

Luckily Ardeth didn't seem upset over her impertinent question. "There was- there is, a woman I love, but she does not love me."

Evy was instantly indignant for the sake of her friend. "How foolish of her!"

Ardeth smiled again.

"She can be very foolish, yes. And she is also beautiful, brave and wise and unlike any other woman I have ever met. There could be no one else for me, from the moment I saw her, but she loved someone else. I believe she was very happy with him and he was wholly worthy of her."

The atmosphere in the room had somehow changed. Evy shifted in her seat, oddly uncomfortable with how personal the conversation had turned and abruptly changed the subject.

"But why are you here? I'm very happy you are, but I never thought I would see you again."

"I believe I was sent here."

"Sent? By whom?"

He gave her a peculiar glance.

"I knew you had returned, but I felt I would only stir up memories you rather not dwell on, if I came. And then a feeling crept up on me, telling me I needed to go. At first I thought it was only my own wish to see you, so I ignored it. But the feeling grew stronger and a few nights ago I had a dream. I dreamt I was shaken from my sleep, someone yelling at me to hurry. And in my dream I awoke and there was Rick, telling me you needed me. He told me I had to go at once because you were in danger."

"Rick told you?" Her voice sounded faint in her ears.

"Yes. More precisely, he told me to get my lazy behind on a horse, right this minute, or else."

"Rick never said behind, he was usually a lot more rude."

Ardeth's smile this time was very broad and white. "He did use a less refined word, yes."

Evy felt laughter bubble up inside her. It certainly sounded like Rick. She ought to have known he wouldn't let such a trifle thing like death stop him from caring for her. He had loved her and he still loved her. Hadn't he told her in her own dream he would make sure she got help? Then she grew serious, the night's earlier terror returning to her.

"Something is happening, and I find it very alarming."

She told Ardeth of the strange things which had happened to her, and the dreams. After a slight hesitation she slipped down her robe and showed him the bruises on her arms.

"I woke up with these. What kind of dreams leave physical traces? I'm sure Imhotep is trying to reach me. I think he wants me to bring him back to life."

He nodded, his face grave now. "I believe your are right."

"But why now? Why is he haunting me now after all these years?"

"For a creature who has been undead for thousands of years, two handfuls of them won't make any difference. We live in a world which has seen great sufferings in the last few years. I believe we haven't seen the end of the changes this war has brought yet either. It's a time of unrest and people are weary and it would be easy for something old and canny to gain power."

"I still don't see why he comes back to me."

"You have always been important to him, ever since the night you spoke the words which brought him back to life."

Evy snorted. "And what he wanted was to kill me. As I recall it he did his best to have a go at me the second time around as well. It makes no sense for him to try to woo me now."

"It may not be so strange. He is not really dead, he never was. His mind is alive and conscious and able to feel. Every action he ever saw you take has been courageous and good. You offered yourself to him to save our lives. Even if he didn't honour his words, it doesn't diminish your sacrifice. You saved Rick when death seemed certain. You were steadfast and true when the woman he loved more than his own life abandoned him. Is it so strange if his soul senses the greatness of yours? He always had a heart- he wouldn't have been so dangerous if he hadn't been able to love."

Ardeth paused, staring out at nothing and added in such a soft voice Evy wasn't sure she heard him right. "How could he not love you, when everyone who meets you do?"

There was another silence and then Evy spoke.

"The dreams, especially the last one, frightens me, but surely it's impossible to bring him to life again? His body and i The Book of the Dead/i are lost now."

"What is lost may be found. Sand shift and moves. I'm certain that if you ventured out where he was buried, you would find him again. And if you don't go there will be some hapless stranger who will stumble over what he will think is a treasure. One day you will find the Creature delivered to the museum, and the book too."

Evy felt a surge of desperation and she rose to walk restlessly around the room.

"And by that time he will have had many nights to hound me. I know he will come back, and how long can I stand up against him? He almost got me tonight. What will happen if I succumb in the dreams?"

"I don't know. Nothing good."

"Of course not. But what can I do? How do you fight a dream?"

"You fought him off tonight. It hasn't weakened you, but taught you something about him. The next time you will be better prepared to defend yourself. And though I can't follow you where your dreams take you, I can protect you when you are awake. If you permit me, I can stop you if you wake up under his power."

"Yes, of course I allow you to do that."

Evy sat down again, thinking aloud. "It wouldn't help against the dreams, though. There must be a way to stop them. An incantation, perhaps. Or an amulet of some sort. I guess it would be best if we start searching at the museum."

Despite it all, she felt a stirring of excitement, then she paused and looked at Ardeth.

"I'm so glad you will help me."

"I would die for you."

Any other man would have sounded ridiculously pompous saying those words, but when Ardeth said it she knew it was simply the truth.

"After all the trouble I have brought on you? When it was I who woke him."

"I am Medjai."

"I know. But the blame is still on me."

"It was your fate."

"I was an idiot who thought I knew what I was doing."

Ardeth gave her a look of genuine surprise "It was still meant to happen. Your knowledge converging with what Rick knew. Those Americans digging where they shouldn't. So many other lives twisting and turning to bring everything in the necessary order. I don't believe in coincidences. Somehow you would have spoken those words at the right place, regardless of your choices."

Evy opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. He had only said a few words and something she had believed in for years had changed. No, had never been true in the first place. There was a magic moment in the work of deciphering old scrolls and books. When one had worked on it for hours, feeling one could never understand more than fragments. Then the mind did a curious shift, and the whole meaning rolled out in front of you. Now Evy felt the same sensation. Snatches of the night's conversation highlighted in her mind and with sudden ease she saw she had never seen before. It vibrated with truth inside her like a silent bell. Rick's voice spoke in her mind, as clear as if he was standing just behind her;

"Finally!" he said, and she knew he was rolling his eyes.

It had taken Evy years after Rick's death before she even thought of what he had said about moving on. There had only been one man who could have competed with Rick. Only one man who was as clever and heroic as Rick. But it didn't matter because she was so sure he would never love her. So she had decided it wasn't so bad to be alone. After all, she had had one great love, she shouldn't expect to find another one. And now she looked across the table and met Ardeth's warm eyes, feeling like a door she didn't know was there, had opened. When Rick died, she had thought there would be no more adventures. but now a new one stretched out before her. Unknown, but inviting, if she dared to take it.

Before Evy could say anything Ardeth rose and went to the open window. She watched his silent back and knew he would never say more than he already had tonight. Twenty years was a long time to love someone in silence. Ardeth was a man commanding respect, but he could still fear rejection. He had no cause to believe she cared more about him than as a friend. With a slight sense of exasperation, Evy wondered if the only one who had known what everyone felt about each other had been Rick. If she ignored what she had just learned, Ardeth would help her and then he would leave. For good, this time. No loss of dignity for either of them, no words to regret. But one could regret silences too.

It wouldn't be the same. For all the things that made them equal, Rick had joked his way through life. His seriousness had been buried deep, something he only allowed Evy and those closest to him to see. Ardeth, on the other hand wore his solemnity like a cloak, the occasions when she had seen him let go of it had been few and far between. But not the same was not a bad thing. She could never go back to what she had shared with Rick, she had to face something new. If she could find the right words.

Evy took a deep breath and went to stand beside Ardeth. Far away she could see the pyramids in the moonshine. It was the view which had made her choose her apartment, a sight so well-known, but still exciting.

"It's a beautiful night," she said.

"Yes. A good night to ride in the desert under the moon."

"I would love to do that again. I haven't been on a horse for years. Or a camel. I prefer horses., though."

"You were riding a camel the first time I saw you. I thought you a madwoman to rush laughing into the accursed city."

"I wouldn't now. I never want to go there again. But there are still so many things out there I haven't seen yet."

"When this is over, I could show you."

His words brought a vision of the desert, endless sand dunes and air hot in your lungs when you breathed.

"I would like that very much." She put a hand on his arm. It was reassuringly real, she could feel the warmth of his body through the layers of fabric. "I would like to never be without you again."

There was another silence, while she thought of what to say next. Under her hand the muscle's in his arm tensed, but otherwise he didn't move.

"Ardeth, I really think it's time you tell that clueless woman of yours what you feel about her."

He didn't tell her. Instead she was suddenly in his arms, and was kissed with a ferocity which took her breath away. Evy kissed him back, adjusting her body to his much taller frame. They fitted well together, as if their bodies knew each other when they had hardly ever touched before. Her robe fell away from her shoulders and his hands moved over her skin, burning with need, but they were gentle too. There would be no bruises from his touch and Evy' could feel her own desire rising as she answered touch with touch. She dimly thought Imhotep had been wrong; she was not alone. He would not be able to tempt her again. Then she forgot him, the only thing of importance being what Ardeth's hands and mouth did to her, and what she could do for him.


End file.
